The Coalition Government is delivering another key election commitment with legislation to establish the Green Army introduced to Parliament.
The Green Army Programme is a key part of the Government’s Cleaner Environment Plan under the Clean Land pillar.
The Government will shortly be undertaking a tender process for service providers who will engage the Green Army teams and supervisors, manage activities to ensure projects are completed safely and report regularly on progress.
Green Army is a voluntary programme that will encourage hands-on, practical, grassroots action to support local environment and heritage conservation projects across Australia.
It’s an opportunity for young people aged 17-24 to gain training and experience in environmental and heritage conservation fields and explore careers in conservation management.
The Mornington Peninsula will become home to one of the first Green Army projects in Australia under the Coalition’s Green Army plan.
The project will have four main strands:
· Mt Martha-Balcombe Creek Nature Trail habitat enhancement
· Southern Peninsula Foreshore and Creek rejuvenation
· Red Hill South Biolink and Community Reserve creation
· Mornington Peninsula War on Weeds
At Mt Martha, environmental trainees will focus on revegetating the Balcombe Creek Nature Trail, as well as creating habitats for wildlife, installing bird boxes, water quality monitoring and protection for listed species.
On the Southern Peninsula, a primary focus will be on work to remedy beach erosion and rehabilitate foreshore land at Portsea, Sorrento, Blairgowrie, Rye and Rosebud.
Workers will also rehabilitate creek banks at Chinamans Creek and Drum Drum Alloc Creek at Rosebud.
At Red Hill South, the Green Army will work to create a 3.3km Biolink along Point Leo Road between Paringa Road and Frankston-Flinders Road. Work will consist mainly of weed removal and revegetation to enhance the area’s high conservation value.
The project will also include landscaping and associated environmental work on a proposed new community reserve at the corner of Point Leo and Red Hill-Shoreham roads.
Across the Mornington Peninsula, the team will also wage a War on Weeds, eradicating weed infestations along some of the major roads and allowing indigenous vegetation to flourish.
Similarly, The Western Port Green Army Project will have four main areas of focus:
· Watsons Creek rehabilitation in Baxter and Somerville
· Hastings, Crib Point and Somers – foreshore revegetation and walking track construction
· Bandicoot habitat preservation at Bayles
· Weed removal and revegetation at Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang
At Somerville, the project aims to assist with the rehabilitation of Watsons Creek, one of Victoria’s most degraded creeks, which flows from its headwaters in Baxter through Somerville into the Yaringa Marine Park in Western Port.
A second focus will be on the Hastings-Crib Point foreshore, with the Green Army working to tackle weeds and help re-establish indigenous vegetation.
At Somers, the team will assist with the creation of a walking track and associated revegetation work.
In Western Port’s north, a primary focus of the project will be the restoration of significant Southern Brown Bandicoot habitats at Bandicoot Corner Reserve in Bayles.
This will include substantial planting and weed eradication, with the aim of creating and preserving this important area of bandicoot habitat.
A further focus will be on environmental rehabilitation work centred on and around the nearby townships of Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang.
The Mornington Peninsula Green Army Project and Western Port Green Army Project will be carried out in consultation and conjunction with the Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation, Cardinia Shire Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Balcombe Estuary Rehabilitation Group, Red Hill Community Action Group and local Landcare groups.
The Green Army will make a real difference to the environment and local communities through projects such as restoring and protecting habitat, weeding, planting, cleaning up creeks and rivers and restoring cultural heritage places.
Participants will be paid an allowance and gain valuable skills in conservation management, teamwork and discipline.
Projects may be carried out across urban, regional and remote Australia on public land, Indigenous-held lands, or private land where there is a clear community and environmental and heritage benefit.
Further details on the Green Army are available online at www.environment.gov.au/topics/cleaner-environment/clean-land/green-army.
Media contact: Samantha Robin on 03 5979 3188 or 0427 787 166